BEMIDJI — The Bemidji City Council discussed its options Monday, March 10, for Bemidji’s Paul Bunyan Drive amid a federal funding freeze for corridor upgrades, including roundabouts.
The city and the Minnesota Department of Transportation were successful in applying for an $18 million federal grant to help fund the construction and prep work long planned along State Highway 197/Paul Bunyan Drive, a main business corridor connecting to US Highways 2 and 71.
MnDOT’s project will be delayed at least a year, but the Council gave its consensus in a March 10 work session to start part of the planned detour work this year. The smaller roundabout projects on back streets are tentatively set for this summer and next, in advance of the large state roundabout project now slated for 2027.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the Rebuilding American Infrastructure through Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, grants across the country as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Some of these programs have been the target of recent funding freezes.
City Engineer Sam Anderson recommended using $5 million in state grants to begin the city’s side of the project, starting with the roundabout on Middle School Drive and 23rd Street.
"We're building the plane as it's flying, so to speak,” Anderson said during Monday’s work session. “We're not getting anything from the federal government in terms of any timeline or any commitments of the money."
One possible outcome if the federal grants are eliminated is a smaller main project on Paul Bunyan Drive, with the city cost-sharing with MnDOT in a typical arrangement.
"The benefit for our project is that it was not sold necessarily on buzz words like green energy — some of the things that it seems like the current administration is kind of trying to grab and really vet,” Anderson said.
The city of Duluth was awarded a nearly $25 million grant in the same round Bemidji was and is facing a similar funding freeze. Duluth’s proposal for Superior Street included electric vehicle charging stations, green infrastructure and improved access for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit users.
Anderson has already arranged the right-of-way purchasing to proceed with the roundabouts on Middle School Drive and Hannah Avenue. He said if the city delays its construction, the state could decide to pull its grant to fund the main corridor construction.
The Council was unanimously in favor of proceeding with Anderson’s recommendation, with council member Gwenia Fiskevold Gould pointing out delayed construction is often more expensive.
"With talks of tariffs that we still don't know whether that's happening or not, and the fact that we know that costs only go up, I am kind of learning a little bit more about kind of some more flexibility and more opportunities to engage the community,” Fiskevold Gould said.
The council recently gave its municipal consent for the MnDOT project to proceed, with the understanding that the project would be grant funded. If the RAISE grant is eliminated, MnDOT will likely pursue a new memorandum of understanding with the city, accounting for the changes to funding.
